Abdul Rehman

Junior Design Engineer

Cirhex • Full-time

Jun 2025 - Present • 1 yr 3 mos

I worked as a Junior Design Engineer (and previously Electronics Engineering Intern) at Cirhex Pvt Ltd, a PCB and embedded product design house in Islamabad. Over the course of this role, I have been directly involved in taking hardware products from initial concept through to working, client-ready prototypes. My core responsibilities include designing electronic schematics and PCB layouts for both client and in-house projects, working across five industry-standard EDA platforms - Altium Designer, KiCad, EasyEDA, Eagle Autodesk, and Flux.AI - selecting the right tool based on each project's specific requirements. This covers everything from single-layer boards to complex multilayer designs, including component placement, routing, power and ground plane design, layer stack-up planning, and DRC/DFM checks to ensure designs are manufacture-ready. Beyond schematic and layout work, I carry out hardware bring-up, testing, and debugging on assembled boards, and integrate hardware with firmware for embedded and IoT-based products. I regularly work with ESP32, ESP8266, and Nordic nRF-based microcontrollers, developing and testing firmware using Arduino IDE and Visual Studio. Some of the key projects I've contributed to at Cirhex include a wearable Bluetooth input device (a smart ring built around an nRF module and ESP32 dongle) and a compact, USB-C powered portable audio recording device designed for long-duration, low-file-size recordings such as doctor-patient consultations. I also designed and delivered several standalone PCB projects, including a Nodeboard, DivertorBoard, and Gas-SensorBoard, along with multiple single- and multilayer PCB designs across the different EDA platforms mentioned above. Throughout these projects, I collaborate closely with cross-functional teams - including firmware, hardware, and product teams - to move designs efficiently from concept to a functioning, tested prototype ready for client delivery.